But Riyadh vowed to hit back on October 14 against any punitive measures as its stock market tumbled, with the fallout from the crisis threatening to imperil Prince Mohammed bin Salman's much-hyped economic reform drive.

The deal with WWE is part of a drive by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, who claims to be a reformer, to change Saudi Arabia's global image through sporting events.

Authorities recovered the audio from Mr Khashoggi's iPhone and his iCloud account, the newspaper said.

When asked about the Khashoggi situation last week, and the possibility of punishing Saudi Arabia Trump said: "I don't like stopping massive amounts of money that's being poured into our country. they are spending US$110 billion on military equipment and on things that create jobs for this country".

Crude prices were surging on Monday as the rift between Saudi Arabia and the United States heats up. Saudi Arabia may have agreed to the search in order to appease its Western allies and the worldwide community.

President Donald Trump said he spoke to Saudi Arabia's King Salman and that he "denies any knowledge" about the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen who has been living in the U.S.

Speaking with reporters at the White House later, Trump reiterated that there would be "very powerful" repercussions for Saudi Arabia should the U.S. determine that the kingdom is responsible for the death of Khashoggi, who wrote for the Post's Global Opinions section.

Last week the regional rivals agreed to set up a joint working group to solve the mystery over the disappearance.

"When the president warns, people should take him at his word", he told Fox.

Flake said if the Saudis did, in fact, kill Khashoggi, Congress might specifically curtail USA military aid to Saudi-led forces in Yemen. "He (Trump) will take action".

The Saudi stock exchange, only months earlier viewed as a darling of frontier investors, plunged as much as 7 percent at one point Sunday before closing down over 4 percent. But Khashoggi's disappearance has led several business leaders and media outlets to back out of the upcoming investment conference in Riyadh called the Future Investment Initiative.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and his counterparts from France and Germany, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Heiko Maas, said they have "grave concerns" about the situation.

A range of punishments are under discussion within the US administration, from downgrading diplomatic relations or sanctioning Saudi officials to following major USA companies in withdrawing officials from an investment conference in Riyadh later this month.

The cancellations have cast a pall over the annual summit at which Prince Mohammed wowed investors previous year with talking robots and blueprints for a futuristic mega city.

There are also fears companies will turn away from investing in the Kingdom.

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